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Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 13-03-20
CONTENTS
[01] FinMin Stournaras: Greek gov't has plan B on Cypriot banks
[01] FinMin Stournaras: Greek gov't has plan B on Cypriot banks
AMNA -- "Cypriot banks cannot stay closed for long, otherwise the Cyprus
economy will be ruined. A solution must be found in the next few hours,
or else Greece will do what it has to do," Greek Finance Minister Yannis
Stournaras said on Wednesday.
Addressing a joint meeting of the Parliament's European and Economic
Affairs Committees, the Greek minister said that in case that Cyprus
failed to present immediately an alternative plan to open its banks in
Greece, "Greece has a plan B which I cannot disclose. The effects on
Greece are minimized. We take our measures," Stournaras said.amna
The Finance Minister defended his stance on the Cyprus issue during last
week's Eurogroup meeting, saying that the decision was unanimous. "The
Cypriot leadership participated in the decision after consultations with
Mr. (Cyprus President Nicos) Anastasiades overcame an initial dead-end
in negotiations. Another consultation occurred with Mr. (Cypriot Finance
Minister Michalis) Sarris which resulted to a compromise proposal. No
other solution was discussed," Stournaras told the Parliamentary
committee.amna
"Cyprus made a decision and we supported it," Stournaras added. He
noted that Cyprus was facing difficulties related with an overblown
banking system. This is the reason why "other alternative scenarios were
examined, all focusing on bank deposits. The Cypriot economy is very
small compared with its banking system, and all other measures offered
inadequate results," he said.amna
He emphasized on Cyprus' need to find 17 billion euros to recapitalize
its banks and said that any borrowing above 10 billion euros would have
made the country's public debt not sustainable. The 7.0 billion euros
missing from the package must not be borrowed money, he noted.
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Opposition political parties strongly reacted to Mr Stournaras' speech
on the Cyprus issue. SYRIZA and other party deputies criticized the
Finance minister for fully adopting the German position on Cyprus.
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